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Waikato

Peter Sergel has been living and breathing Hamilton Gardens since 1979, but this long association hasn't blunted his enthusiasm.

Peter Sergel still has plans for Hamilton Gardens, Sandra Simpson discovers.

Walking through his 44-hectare workplace, he is still likely to whip out a notebook and jot down any maintenance issues he spots. Peter became the Gardens’ director in 1995 and is now officially retired, though he still reports for duty as a part-timer. He hopes to take up his paintbrushes again – he was once delighted to find his drawings of the Italian Renaissance Garden had been used by the Italian Tourist Board – and also begin recording some of Hamilton Gardens’ history for posterity. “This has been both my passion and my hobby.”

Peter’s association with the site dates from childhood visits with his father; he recalls piles of rubbish, seagulls and people with guns shooting rats. In other words, it was the city’s dump.

Later, with qualifications in horticulture and landscape architecture, and newly returned from his OE, where he had seen bombed areas in Europe being used for a garden festival (planting the seed that no site was beyond redemption), Peter joined Hamilton City Council and developed a concept plan for Hamilton Gardens.

Rather than plantings, the plan called for a collection of gardens. “I’d been inspired by museums overseas where the modern way to display a collection is to tell a central story. We tell the story of gardens through history – historic garden forms can tell us a lot about the societies that created them and often reflect things like religious beliefs, arts, social structures and attitudes to the natural world.”

Still under development today are medieval, ancient Egyptian, Baroque and Pasifika gardens, and Peter has hopes for 11 more, including Roman, Persian, Vedic and French parterre.

Peter says his biggest ally over the past 42 years has been time.

Time to develop credibility for his vision, and time to make those important sponsorship connections. “If we’d gone to the council 40 years ago with an internationally unique concept for a garden and said it’s going to cost $40 million-plus…”

Success doesn’t hurt either. In 2014, Hamilton Gardens was named

International Garden of the Year by the Garden Tourism Awards. Visitor numbers at about 1 million a year were hardly dented in 2020, even with lockdown and alert level restrictions included. “Annually, we have 440,000-plus people visit the enclosed gardens,” says Peter, “and those numbers kept up even though we had no international tourism for a year.”

Drawcards include immaculate presentation, thanks to the 18 gardeners in a staff of 33; the variety on offer; and the attention to detail, from the table laden with realistic “food” mentioned in The Garden Party short story (Mansfield Garden) and the high-quality Kitchen Garden produce used in the cafe to ivycovered mechanical sculptures in the Surrealist Garden and a Narnia-type door leading to the Concept Garden.

If there’s been any secret to his success, it’s been tackling things in small stages, Peter says.

“We’ve certainly had lots of challenges, but progress has been maintained through the support and goodwill of the Hamilton community. It just wouldn’t have happened otherwise.”

Development has moved from being 100 per cent self-funded to now receiving some council funding – the last major work programme was one-third funded by the council.

“For the current group of new gardens, we need to raise $3.3 million and that dictates the pace of development.”

Peter’s skill and dedication haven’t gone unrecognised, even if the man himself is unfailingly modest. Honours include being made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to landscape design and the community (2005), an honorary doctorate from Waikato University (2009), and the Royal Arch Masonic Centennial Award for overseas travel and research (2017).

“It’s been more than a job,” he says. “It’s been a vocation, particularly around community engagement, and there’s always a challenge when working in a political environment. But first and foremost, it’s been a team effort.” ✤

Agarden centre should be more than a place to buy plants – it should be a feel-good environment where you can unwind and de-stress, and at the heart of its local community, according to the family behind one of Auckland’s longest-established Palmers stores.

Mother-and-son duo Delma and Johnathan Harrison both work hands-on managing

Palmers Remuera and its popular café, Café Greenfingers, as well as offering a full landscape design and build service.

Since they took over the business in 2006, they and their team have worked hard to build a reputation for quality plants, indepth gardening knowledge and old-fashioned service. “Our goal is to have everyone saying ‘wow!’ when they’re leaving to pack their cars,” says Delma.

It’s the little details like the complimentary wheelchair, complimentary trailer hire, a delivery and planting service and free gardening advice for beginner gardeners that create a sense of community around this bustling garden centre.

But this family business is at the heart of its community in other ways too, often donating prizes to local school fundraising activities, hosting cooking demonstrations and fashion parades to raise money for charity, and donating plants to local environmental projects. “We support everyone!” says Johnathan.

“We approached the council and requested they allow us to build a ‘guerrilla garden’ on the corner of Coates Ave and Paora St, Ōrākei. We designed and built a beautiful garden there to enhance the local environment, and took over responsibility for maintaining it. We have also contributed plants to restore the swamp land bordering our garden centre.”

With more than 150 years of gardening experience between them, the garden centre’s staff have all studied horticulture and love to share their experience and knowledge with customers.

“We pride ourselves on sourcing nursery-grade quality stock, a huge variety of annuals, perennials, edibles, ground covers, fruit trees and hedging trees, and in addition we procure rare species of difficult-to-acquire plants,” says Johnathan.

A collector of rare exotic plants himself, Johnathan has transformed his garden in Sunnyhills, East Auckland, into a lush Balinese-style tropical oasis.

Delma is also a keen gardener, growing vegetables and many types of fruit at her home in nearby Ōrākei. “Winter is time to plant garlic, shallots, asparagus crowns, citrus, apples, pears, plums, peaches and nectarines, and we have seedlings of cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, spinach and broad beans in-store ready to be planted.”

Now is also the time to plant roses, and they’re arriving instore by the hundreds. “We stock an amazing range, including shrubs, climbing roses, trailing varieties and standards, some with magnificent perfumes,” says Delma.

“The flowering camellias have also recently been delivered, so we have a comprehensive range, some with high fragrance.”

Every plant on sale at Palmers Remuera is suitable for the Auckland climate, and they’re all displayed in the conditions where they prefer to be grown, whether that’s in full sun, in part shade or indoors.

“We also have an obsession with pots, boasting one of the most impressive selections to be seen in Auckland, including lightweight fibre clay, fibre resin, terracotta and ceramic,” says Johnathan. “Our unique ranges are imported from Australia, Vietnam, Italy and Bali. Plus, we have Delma’s eclectic selection of décor items!”

Unsurprisingly, Café Greenfingers is a regular meeting point for many locals, who come to enjoy not just the great coffee and food, but the warm welcome and the relaxing garden environment.

Palmers Remuera Corner Shore & Ōrākei Roads, Remuera Open 7 days, 8.30am – 5.30pm Café open 7 days, 7am – 4pm Phone 09 524 4038 Email remuera@palmers.co.nz

“We pride ourselves on sourcing nursery-grade quality stock, a huge variety of annuals, perennials, edibles, ground covers, fruit trees and hedging trees, and in addition we procure rare species of difficult-to-acquire plants”

- Johnathan Harrison

If you live somewhere else, here’s where to find a store near you: palmers.co.nz

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